


Catastrophe Waitress

by faithandserenity



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-13
Updated: 2015-08-03
Packaged: 2018-01-24 15:04:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1609418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faithandserenity/pseuds/faithandserenity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jasper's the new mechanic across the street from Bella's diner. She knows nothing about his broken soul and lost childhood; all she knows is he needs a friend. But when you've spent so long running from your past, do you still have the humanity to turn to face your future?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

_Dear Catastrophe Waitress_

_I’m sorry if you seem to have_

_the weight of the world over you_

_I cherish your smile_

_There’s a word of peace on your lips_

_Say it, and with tenderness_

_I’ll cherish you_

_Dear Catastrophe Waitress – Belle and Sebastian_

It was sweltering in the small, wood paneled diner, even with the ceiling fan on high. Bella lay stretched out in the freezer, apron strings untied and buttons undone, cigarette held as far away from her as possible as she tried to cool down before the lunch time rush.

The park in the town square was totally barren, the leaves on the trees turning brown around the edges, despite it being barely July. In the garage across the street all the doors were thrown open, overalls tied around waists and shirts discarded.

Jess threw herself down on the floor next to Bella, grabbing a handful of ice and holding it to her forehead.

“My grandma said yesterday this is the hottest she’s felt it since ’35.”

Bella nodded along to Jess’s chattering absentmindedly, dragging on her cigarette. It was a well-practiced lunch break ritual; Jess spoke and Bella smoked.

“Hey, Bells, you seen Tyler’s got a new mechanic?”

Stubbing her cigarette out with the calloused heel of her hand and exhaling, Bella nodded.

“Yeah, Mike mentioned it when he came in for dinner last night. Be nice to have some extra help I guess, those boys work too damn hard.” 

The bell over the door jangled, and Bella didn’t even need to look out of the freezer door to know the raucous group piling in was the boys from across the street.

Rising from her place on the floor Bella shook out her apron, and motioned to Jess to stand up as well.

“Come on, Jessie-Lou, we got a hungry town to feed.” 

“Hey, Bells! What’s the pie today?” 

“Peach,” she called back to Mike, turning to top up Mrs. Webber’s coffee as Jess shut the freezer door behind them. “Grab a seat and I’ll bring y’all your orders over.”

Picking up her coffee pot she turned to the booth in the window, pouring coffee in all the mugs. When she reached the fourth, a hand came out to cover the mug and stop her. 

“Don’t ‘spose y’all have somethin’ a little cooler?”

Raising her head, Bella encountered a pair of ice blue eyes set under a shaggy blonde fringe; the face far too tanned to belong to any of the three mechanics that came for lunch regularly.

“Well now, you must be Tyler’s new mechanic.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, nodding his head, “Jasper Whitlock.”

“I’m sure I can rustle you up some lemonade, Mr. Whitlock. I’ll be back in a tick.”

* * *

Placing the lemonade and sandwiches on the table, she pointed out the payphone when Jasper asked, before heading over to clear Mrs. Webber’s table. Balancing the tray on her hip as she wiped the table down, she watched out of the corner of her eye as the mechanic shove his chair back before heading over to the payphone.

“Bells, shut your mouth, you’re drooling.”

Bella’s mouth closed with a snap before she turned to glare at the mechanic leaning up against the counter.

“As if, Newton, I’m just admiring the view,” she said, gesturing vaguely out of the window behind the pay phone. 

Putting the tray in the sink behind her, she moved behind the counter to ring him up, keeping her gaze on the tall man at the payphone, seemingly engrossed in what the recipient of his call was saying to him. From the hunch of his shoulders it didn’t seem to be the happiest conversation, and Bella itched to go and smooth the tension out of those muscles.

She spent the rest of the afternoon floating on autopilot, coffee pot in one hand, tray in the other, pad and pen hanging from her apron strings. She’d given up on the ceiling fan at about three o’clock, and instead set up the standing fans; a tray of ice underneath each one in an attempt to cool the air, rather than just move it about.

Clocking off that evening, she scraped the sweaty pony tail off the back of her neck into a top knot, throwing her apron into the laundry and rushing to her truck. Cranking the windows down and the radio up, she threw the rusty red Chevy into gear and pulled out of the parking lot.

Driving past the garage, she saw Jasper leaning up against an oil can out front, cigarette between his teeth, boot scuffing lines into the dirt. She raised a hand as she drove past, barely catching his eye as she barreled along at 40 miles per hour.

Ducking in the shower as soon as she got home, Bella wallowed in the cool spray cascading over her body, washing away the sweat and grime of the day. She took her time lathering strawberry shampoo into her hair, combing the conditioner through and luxuriating in the sugar scrub.

Padding out of the bathroom twenty minutes later wrapped in a threadbare towel, she picked the phone of the cradle and went to sprawl on the sofa in the living area of her small studio flat.

“Hey, Daddy,” she said when it connected and Phil picked up, “is Mom there?” 

She waited while he yelled up the stairs for Renée, hearing the faint sound of her parents’ bedroom door opening, her mother’s footsteps getting louder as she descended the stairs.

“Hiya, honey,” her mom said when she’d plucked the phone from Phil’s hand, “I’d hoped you’d call today. I put some freesias on his grave for you, like you asked.”

“Thanks, Mom,” she whispered, stretching her legs over the end of the sofa, “I’d hoped to come up but I couldn’t get the time off work, Mrs. Mallory wants all hands on deck at the moment.” 

“I know, Bells, and I know your dad would have been so proud of you, you’re such a hard working young woman.” 

Bella flicked the tears from the corners of her eyes, settling in for a night of stories about Charlie. It had been one of her favorite pastimes when she was younger, her mom telling her stories about the father she never knew, the dashing, heroic young policeman, killed in a gunfight during a crackdown on gang violence. 

Now the stories just made her sad. She was old enough to understand that her father hadn’t been heroic; he’d just been unlucky. A young, small town cop who was totally unprepared when he was drafted into Seattle and died as a result.

She fell asleep to the sound of memories and her mother’s laughter.


	2. 2

_It's something to speak of the way you are feeling  
_ _to crowds there assembled  
_ _do you ever feel you have gone too far?  
_ _Everyone suffers in silence a burden  
_ _//  
_ _You're constantly updating your hit parade of your ten biggest wanks  
_ _she's a waitress and she's got style  
_ _Sunday bathtime could take a while_

_The Boy With The Arab Strap – Belle and Sebastian_

* * *

 

Jasper wiped the sweat off his forehead with his arm, leaving another streak of grease along his already dirty face.

“Well, Mr. Banner, I gotta say y’all were lucky. Coupl’a more days and this truck woulda left ya high and dry on the side’a the road.” 

The older man nodded his thanks, climbing in the truck as Jasper walked over to sling his spanner on the shelf. 

Bracing his arms over the sink, he turned the tap on full, sticking his head under the flow before shaking like a dog. As Tyler yelled his name for lunch, he grabbed a towel from the side, scrubbing it over his face and arms.

The other three mechanics spent the walk over to the diner teasing Mike about some waitress named Jessie. Jasper hung back, not bothered about making friends with his new colleagues. Staying in town long enough to make friends was a rarity; it was best to not even try.

There were two young waitresses emerging from a door behind the counter when they walked in, aprons strings tied around blue dresses, both wearing chucks. Mike yelled across to the brunette—Bella—and she waved them into a booth by the window.

Jasper hadn’t been paying attention once they’d slung themselves into a booth; and it wasn’t until the smell of coffee invaded the air that he took notice of his surroundings. The thought of coffee made his skin crawl, his hand shaking as he stuck it out over the mug, almost knocking the coffee pot out of the waitress’s—Bella’s—hand.

He nodded his thanks absent-mindedly as she set the glass down in front of him, fishing a piece of ice out to chew on.

He zoned out of the conversation that was taking place around him, instead looking around the diner—nothing remarkably different than any of the countless other small town diners he’d sat in over the past 24 years.

Excusing himself as soon as he’d wolfed down his sandwich, he made his way over to the pay phone in the corner, digging a pile of quarters and a wedge of dollar bills out of his back pocket. Once he’d punched in the number he listened to the crackles from the long distance line, waiting for the girl on the other end to pick up. 

“Hey listen, Rosabee, it’s Jasper. Look, I’m not gonna make it up to Newark for the fourth, darlin’. I gotta work off the cost of repairin’ the truck.”

He listened patiently to her protests, assuring her that she’d have plenty of fun without him, that Esme would make sure that the fourth was as fun as always, even without him there.

“Give my love to your Momma for me, and tell her I’ll be up real soon.” 

Jasper spent the rest of the afternoon waist deep in the engine of his Ford F150, trying to figure out why the engine had cut out on him halfway between Houston and Newark. He had thought that maybe the rubber between the fuel pump and the fuel line had a leak in it, but having pulled it out and filtered water through it, seeing no sign of a leak, he was stumped.

By six he had given up. Heading out front for a final cigarette before he returned to the B&B he leaned up an old oilcan, out ready for it to be taken with the rest of the trash the next morning. He heard the rumble of a badly tuned engine coming down the road towards him, and looked up to see Bella wave out of the window of an ancient Chevy 3100.

* * *

 

**_16 years ago: Jasper is 8._ **

_“Bye, honey!” his mother shouted, waving out of the window as his father backed the truck out of the driveway. “Be good for grandma!”_

_Jasper waved for as long as he could see the truck, taking Momma and Dad to the hospital to collect his new baby sister. He was excited, he’d already sworn he was gonna be the best big brother little Rosalie could ever have; he was gonna teach her to climb the biggest tree at the bottom of the garden and make sure no one picked on her at school, ever._

_Jasper spent the day coloring in pictures in the living room, while Grandma sat on the couch white-faced, talking in hushed tones on the telephone. He wasn’t allowed to go outside, and when Grandma asked for a hug, she held him too tight, and he thought his lungs were gonna burst._

_He told her all his plans for Rosalie, how he knew that Momma had to look after her for a little bit until she was big enough to play with him, but then he was gonna share all his toys with her, he’d even let her play with his civil war soldiers; not even his best friend Emmett was allowed to play with them._

_Grandma nodded in all the right places, but she wouldn’t look at him, and Jasper thought she might be crying, but he didn’t know why she’d be crying so he carried on coloring._

_It was very dark outside by the time the headlights from the truck lit up the lounge window. Grandma should have put him in bed hours ago, but maybe she forgot._

_Dad walked in carrying a tiny little bundle in his arms. Jasper jumped up to go and get a first glimpse of his Rosalie, but Grandma snagged the back of his shirt and pulled him back._

_Dad’s face was all red and puffy, like he’d been crying._

_“I’m so sorry, son,” Grandma said._

_Jasper didn’t understand why she was sorry. Rosalie was here, why were Dad and Grandma crying? Maybe Momma could cheer them up when she came in from the car._

_Grandma took Rosalie from Dad’s arms and Dad started crying, big, choking sobs that seemed to explode out of him. He reached blindly for Jasper and started rocking him back and forth, squeezing him even tighter than Grandma had._

_He repeated Grandma’s words._

_“I’m so sorry, son, I’m so, so sorry.”_

_Jasper went to bed that night with the image of Momma, smiling and waving out of the window of the truck, emblazoned on the back of his eyelids._

 


	3. 3

_All grown up  
_ _And you don't care anymore  
_ _And you hate all the people that you used to adore  
_ _And you despise all the rumors and lies of the life you led before_

_All Grown Up – Elvis Costello_

* * *

Bella lounged languidly in bed the next morning. She had flicked only a sheet over her legs and left the window open, the muggy air making it difficult to breathe.

When she finally stood up, sheet wrapped around her shoulders like a cloak, feet bare on the wooden floors. She crossed to the window and pulled the curtains back, the scene outside as lazy as the one inside, kids lounging on lawns and shop fronts thrown open, employees soaking up the sun. 

After pulling on some clothes, Bella dragged on some sneakers and pulled her hair into a ponytail, grabbing her purse as she headed out of the kitchen. Her one day off a week was her day for running errands, but the heat had sucked all of the motivation out of her.

Shutting her apartment door, she waved to Angela as she walked past her on the way to her truck. The engine came to life with a noisy growl when she turned the keys in the ignition, and she backed carefully out of the parking lot. 

* * *

 

Bella dashed around the Stop&Go, piling groceries haphazardly into her cart. She was sorely tempted by the cool allure of the ice cream freezer but resisted, knowing that it would merely melt in her truck while she ran the rest of her errands. 

As she steered the cart around the corner, she saw Jasper lazily examining the labels on cartons of instant noodles.

“Hi!”she said, making her way over to him. She stopped to grab some eggs from the shelf to the left before closing the gap between them. 

“Miss Bella,” he said, tipping his hat to her, “how are ya?”

Bella laughed. “Hot!” She glanced into his basket and couldn’t help but notice it was piled high with instant food. “Say, I don’t suppose you’ve got great cooking facilities at the B&B?” 

Glancing down ruefully at his basket, Jasper replied, “Not really. Not sure that it’d make a whole loada difference if I did though.”

Feeling sorry for the obviously lonely man who was clearly hundreds of miles away from his family, Bella reacted impulsively. 

“Why don’t you come for dinner tonight?”

Jasper looked surprised at her invitation, reaching a hand around to the back of his neck and rubbing. 

“Well, if you’re sure that’s okay. I haven’t had a decent meal in weeks.” 

Assuring him that it was fine, Bella rattled off her address and directions. She started to push her cart toward the checkouts, but then she turned back to the tall Texan behind her. 

“Hey, Jasper?”

Jasper looked up from his perusal of the noodle labels, eyebrow raised at her.

“What’s your favorite food?”

He grinned widely. “Mexican.”

* * *

 

The doorbell rang just as Bella reached in for the enchiladas. Shoving the oven door closed with her foot, she yanked the hair tie out of her hair and rubbed an arm over her face to eradicate any traces of tomato sauce.

Pulling her apartment door open, she saw Jasper leaning lazily against the doorpost, a six-pack of beer dangling from his fingers.

“Hey,” she said, pulling the door wider, “come on in. We’re just waiting for Mike and Jess, and then we can eat.”

Jasper walked into the small living area, dropping the beer on the table as he passed, before turning to face her.

“I appreciate this,” he said, a smile fluttering at the corners of his lips. “Think my stomach was startin’ to forget that food other than dehydrated noodles existed.”

Bella giggled nervously, a hand fiddling with her necklace. Now that Jasper had arrived before Mike—her intended safety barrier—she was feeling unsure, not used to being alone with an almost stranger.

She waved him toward the sofa, tossing a can of beer from the fridge at him, grabbing his off the table and slotting them into her half-empty refrigerator. Snatching herself a can of Diet Coke, she parked herself in the chair opposite the sofa.

“So, tell me how a Southern boy like you stumbles into our small Midwestern town,” she queried, tucking her feet underneath her.

“Broke down on my trip cross country. Tyler was the only mechanic in a fifty-mile radius who’d let me work off the cost of repairin’ my truck.” He fiddled with the ring of the can, running his finger under it three times before popping it off. He poured the amber liquid carefully down the side of the glass, sucking the foam off the top. He crushed the can in his fist, before putting it on the coffee table in front of him.

Bella nodded absent-mindedly. From the tick in his jaw she could tell that it was a blow to his pride having to work off the repairs, and she wished she could do something to make his life easier. 

Mike and Jess arrived not long after, and the four of them decamped to the dining table, Bella seating Mike and Jess next to each other while she and Jasper sat at opposite ends of the table. 

Watching Jasper banter with Mike, keeping up with his notoriously sharp tongue, and allowing the sarcastic insults to slide off his back, Bella decided that Jasper was a good fit for her ragtag group of friends.

“Say, Miss Bella,” he said with a smile, turning away from his conversation with Mike, “you don’t sound as though y’all’re from round these parts neither?” 

Jess sat up straighter at his question, her gaze darting to Bella as Mike shook his head slightly at Jasper, who opened his mouth to apologize. 

Bella waved him off. “No, I’m from Washington,” she said, a hand going up to fiddle with a lock of hair. “Came down here about a year ago, soon as I graduated high school.”

Dropping her hair, Bella picked up her and Jess’s plates, then scooting her chair back and standing. “Anyone for cobbler?”

Jess smiled sympathetically at the abrupt change of subject, rising and grabbing the boys’ plates. Jasper looked momentarily confused before Mike engaged him in conversation about the Cowboys’ chances next season and the subject was forgotten. 

* * *

Jasper and Mike left together at about ten, Jess stayed behind to chatter and help Bella clean up.

“So when are you gonna admit you like Mike?” Bella teased, dunking a plate into the sink one last time before passing it to Jess, who was waiting with a towel. 

“I’ve told you, it’ll never happen.” Jess rubbed the towel briskly over the plate before reaching up to place it in the cabinet just above her head. “We tried once in high school. He lasted a week before he had Alice Brandon in the back of his truck again. That girl has her claws into him well and good.” 

Bella shook her head pensively, “you know, I think you’re underestimating him. She’s been in New York close to a year now, without a word. I think he’s seeing her the same way you and all the rest of his friends do now.”

Jess’ gaze lingered a little too long on the glass she was drying. 

“I don’t know, Bells. I don’t want to ruin what we already are.”

Pulling her hands out of the water and drying them on Jess’ towel, Bella smiled ruefully. “I can understand that, Jessie-Lou, believe me.”

Tugging the towel away from Jess, Bella grabbed her hands and shoved her toward the sofa. “You pick the movie, I’ll grab the popcorn.”

 

* * *

**-catastrophe-waitress on tumblr is this fics mood board, and also features the playlist for the whole fic, if anyone is interested.**


	4. 4

_Someday I'll wish upon a star_  
_And wake up where the clouds are far behind me._  
_Where troubles melt like lemon drops,_  
_High above the chimney tops,  
_ _That's where you'll find me._

_Somewhere Over the Rainbow – Judy Garland_

* * *

Jasper was up and out of bed with the dawn, the tree outside his window containing a nest of squawling baby birds demanding their breakfast. He threw the window open, breathing the soupy air deeply and running a hand through unkempt hair.

Dragging on a pair of oil stained jeans and a t-shirt that might have once been white, he crossed to the sink on the other side of the wall to splash water on his face. He scrubbed his face dry with the rough towel, running a hand over his jawline he decided he could do without shaving.

Jasper cut across the town square and into the diner, setting off the chimes above him. 

“Miss Jessica,” he tipped his hat at the waitress behind the counter as he took a seat in front of her.

Jessica bent to grab a mug from below her, placing it in front of him before filling it with steaming coffee.

“Breakfast?” she questioned, pushing a menu towards him, “you’re up early, didn’t think Mikey opened up ‘til 8?”

Jasper pulled the menu towards him, flicking his eyes up to meet Jess’s.

“Pancakes sound good,” he handed the piece of paper back, “couldn’t sleep, figured I may as well get a head start on my truck.”

Jessica nodded, scribbling his order on her pad before turning to pass it through the hatch into the kitchen.

“You think you’ll be sticking around for long then?” she asked, leaning her elbows on the counter in front of him. 

“Reckon it’ll take me at least a month to fix up the truck, probably another month to work off the cost. Headed to Jersey after that though.”

“What’s in Jersey?” she asked, reaching to grab a cloth and starting to wipe down the counter in front of him

“Family,” Jasper said tersely, dropping his eyes to follow the motion of her cloth.

Sensing the young man in front of her didn’t want to talk about it, Jess smiled softly at him.

“There’s a lot of us with checkered pasts around here,” she told him kindly, “you don’t feel obliged to tell nosy old me or anybody anything, ok?”

* * *

 

Clocking off later that day, Jasper headed across the grassy town square to the hardware shop, the high school across the road awash with teenagers being let free for the afternoon.

He nodded at the elderly man behind the counter as he moved amongst the shelves, stopping when he found the car parts, weighing up the different pistons in his hands. Deciding the larger of the two would do the job, he moved towards the man. 

“This’ll fit a Ford F150?” he questioned, “forgot to check before I left.”

The man nodded an affirmation, ringing Jasper up and handing him his change.

“Have a good night, son.”

* * *

 

**_15 years ago: Jasper is 9_ **

_“Son!” the shout bellowed through the house as Jasper tucked his baby sister into her crib, crooning a lullaby as he did so._

_Kissing her downy head one more time, he moved to the door, gently closing it. His grandma had gone visiting her sister for a week, and his dad was still too sad to look after baby Rosabee, so she said it fell to Jasper to be the man of the house and make sure she was ok._

_He hurried downstairs, finding his dad in his armchair, cigarette butts littering the floor around him, a half empty bottle of whisky dangling from his fingers as small eyes leered at Jasper._

_“Get over here, son,” Jasper hastened to follow the command, the memory of last night’s burnt arm still throbbing beneath his pajama sleeve._

_He still wasn’t fast enough for his father though, who grabbed the boy by his shirt collar and flung him away. Jasper stumbled, catching his shoulder on the wall, letting out a hiss of pain as the joint protested._

_“Don’t be such a pathetic, useless wimp,” his father sneered, snatching at Jasper’s sleeve, bringing the boy’s face into line with his, his stale breath washing over Jasper as he tried desperately not to breathe it in._

_“Think you’re so big don’t you,” he snarled “taking care of that little monster who stole your mother away. Should be ashamed of yourself!”_

_Jasper trembled in his father’s grasp. He’d seen him drunk before, heard him shout sometimes, but Momma or Grandma had always kept him away from Jasper when he was in one of his moods._

_The man shoved his son away, Jasper fell to the floor, the hand he’d put out to stifle his fall catching on the lit end of a cigarette. He snatched it up to his mouth with a hiss, sucking on the red skin._

_His father laughed, turning back to the baseball game on the TV and his whisky. Jasper hurried up to Rosabee’s room, assuring himself that she was still ok. She was sleeping peacefully still, so Jasper retreated to the bathroom to stick his hand under the faucet. The red skin was already starting to blister, and the young boy jerked when the cold water first hit it._

_Wrapping his injury in a hand towel he crossed to his bedroom, curling up into the smallest ball he could in his bed and staring at the stars through his small window._

_Grandma would be back next week, and she would make it all ok again, he was sure of it. If he could only make it through to next week, it would all be ok again._


	5. 5

_Oh, when I look back now  
_ _That summer seemed to last forever  
_ _And if I had the choice  
_ _Yeah, I'd always wanna be there  
_ _Those were the best days of my life_

_Summer of ’69 – Bryan Adams_

Bella’s truck rattled into the fairground parking lot, the breaks protesting with a squeal as she swung into the closest space she came across. She could smell the bonfire and food stalls before she had even opened the door of her truck. 

As she reached over the tailgate, feeling for the picnic blanket and basket, a hand landed on her waist, a strong tanned arm reaching over her and grabbing them for her.

“I like your dress,” Jasper’s breath fanned across her neck, raising goose bumps where it passed.

Bella turned and smiled at him, smoothing her hands across the patterned fabric.

“Why thank you good sir,” she laughed as he tipped his hat at her, “never got much of a chance to wear summer dresses where I grew up.”

“Washington State,” Jasper mused, “does it really rain as much as they tell us lot down South?”

Chuckling, Bella checked him with her hip, snatching the blanket from him and leaving him to carry the basket as she weaved through the crowds to where they’d agreed to meet their friends.

Bella dropped the blanket on the ground when she reached Mike and Jess, tossing Mike the pager he’d left in the diner that afternoon. He caught it with a relieved huff, tucking it safely back in his pocket as he helped Bella pull the blanket straight.

The four of them stretched out on the blankets, Jess settling her head in Mike’s lap as Bella smirked at her. Jess rolled her eyes and ignored her, fixing her eyes on the skies and waiting for the firework show to begin.

* * *

 

The four of them headed back to Bella’s much later that evening; Jasper and Mike trying to persuade Bella’s rusty old VCR to take Mike’s new Star Trek cassette without eating it while Bella and Jess popped the tops off beers in the kitchen.

“Hey Bells,” Mike hollered, “your machine lights flashing.”

“I thought you were meant to be dealing with the VCR,” Bella’s head appeared around the kitchen door, taking in the sight of Jasper with his head under her TV stand.

“Answer machine,” Mike expanded, waving a hand in the direction of her telephone.

“My mom must have called to wish me a Happy Fourth,” Bella shrugged, “I’ll ring her back tomorrow.”

* * *

 

The shrill ring of the phone interrupted them about half an hour into the movie. Bella shrugged off the noise, waving off Jess’ offer to pass her phone. The answer machine clicked on, Bella reaching for the remote to being the movie playing again.

“Hey Bells,” the voice came from the answer machine, “it’s, uh, it’s Jake. I was just calling to say Happy Fourth and uh, wondering if you got my earlier message.”

Bella had rocketed to her feet, snatching the receiver up and moving away from her friends sprawled out around the TV.

“I thought I told you to leave me alone,” Jasper was surprised at the vitriol in Bella’s voice.

Bella’s scowl deepened, she listened to the man on the other side of the phone for a few seconds more before slamming the receiver back into its cradle.

“Sorry,” she muttered, moving back to the sofa and curling back into her position next to Jasper, “old friend from Washington.”

Jasper slung an arm around her shoulder, giving the shaken girl a friendly squeeze as she smiled tremulously at him.

* * *

 

Bella was banging on Jasper’s B&B room door early the next week, smirking from ear to ear when he answered wrapped only in a sheet, eyes blurry from sleep.

“I thought I’d show our southern visitor one of Ohio’s finest traditions,” she said, thrusting a baseball cap into his hands, “get dressed, and wear that instead of your Stetson. I’ll meet you at the diner in half an hour.”

Jasper chuckled as he watched her walk away, turning the baseball cap over in his hands and seeing the Cleveland Indians’ logo grinning back at him.

* * *

 

Handing him a hot dog, Bella sunk down into the seat next to Jasper’s as the game got underway.

“You know there’s no way they’re gonna beat the Rangers, right?” Jasper questioned, settling his cap more firmly on his head.

“Whatever you say, Texas,” Bella said, “neither of them hold a candle to the Mariners after all.”

“Yeah yeah, Washington, we all know Texas plays the best ball in the whole damn country.”

Bella snickered, handing over the popcorn.

“Maybe don’t say that to a girl who’s dad is a coach for the Mariners, hey buddy?”

“Seriously?”

“Yep,” Bella confirmed, “taught me everything I know,” she added, pulling out her pencil to keep score.

* * *

 

“Jessie-Lou,” the next morning found Jasper slouching across the diner’s counter, beckoning the waitress on the breakfast shift over towards him.

Jess swayed over from Mike’s table, fixing a questioning look at the troubled young man at her counter.

“Yes, honey?” she asked, filling his coffee mug as she reached him.

“What is Bella doing so far from home? She obviously still has family there, old friends ringing her up, she told me her dad’s involved with the Mariners?”

“Step-dad,” Jess spoke idly, wiping down the counter in front of her, “and to be honest I think she’d rather Jake didn’t keep ringing her.”

Jasper hummed in acknowledgement, his eyes following the sweeping motion of Jess’s hands. The forlorn look in his eyes stirred something in Jess, and she took pity on him.

“Jake’s an ex-boyfriend who never quite got the hint,” she dusted the crumbs from her hands into the bin, “beyond that I don’t know much. She arrived July after we finished high school, never left.”

She rested a kindly hand on his shoulder, smiling sadly when he flinched away from the contact, and crossed back to Mike in the window.

* * *

 

Jasper paced in front of the diner as he waited for Bella to finish her shift, clenching and unclenching his hands. Watching as the lights went out, he approached the doors, Bella bent down to lock them.

“Bella,” he announced his presence from a few feet away so as not to startle her.

“Hey,” she smiled, turning around to face him, “I was just heading home. Fancy keeping me company for dinner?”

Jasper reached a hand around the back of his neck, fingers rubbing just below his hairline.

“I was actually, uh, well I was wondering if you fancied going out for dinner? I’ve heard there’s this great little restaurant a couple miles down the road, run by an Amish family and, well, while in Amish country, right?”

Bella laid a gentle hand on his arm to stop his rambling, fingers catching under the cuff of his shirt.

“Sounds wonderful, let me get changed first?”

* * *

Early July turned to mid July, and the final few green leaves on the trees gave up their battle and turned brown. Jasper and the rest of the mechanics had abandoned shirts for the season; working in overalls tied around their wastes, sweat smearing grease and oil more liberally across their skin than usual.

Bella and Jess spent all the time they could hiding out in the freezer at work, packing ice underneath the fans in an attempt to cool down the stifling diner. Bella slept with her sheets thrown off, windows thrown as wide as they could go.

She had ventured out to Cleveland late one afternoon to find a birthday present for Phil, abandoning her search after half an hour thanks to the sheer oppressiveness of the heat. Pulling her care back into her driveway she had found Jasper propped up on her porch.

“Hey there Cowboy,” she jumped from the cab of the truck, slamming the door behind her, “shouldn’t you be at work?”

“Tyler closed up today,” he hummed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, Mike and I got off early. Jess is fancying a trip to the falls, thought we could join them.”

Bella squealed so loudly Jasper flinched.

“Yes!” she grinned so widely Jasper was fearful her face would split in two, “we haven’t been to the falls for ages. Oh it’s such a Midwest town, you’re in for a treat, Texas.”

“I thought this was a Midwest town,” Jasper teased, swatting her on the butt as she moved past him to her front door.

Bella rolled her eyes at his childishness, pulling open her screen door and unlocking the green front door of her small house.

“Go on,” she said, shoving him towards the kitchen as she moved to her bedroom, “you’re in charge of the picnic while I get changed.”


	6. 6

_She's got you high and you don't even know yet  
_ _She's got you high and you don't even know yet  
_ _The sun's in the sky, it makes for happy endings  
_ _You can't deny you want a happy ending_  

_She’s Got You High – Mumm-Ra_

Bella entwined her fingers loosely with Jasper’s as she pulled him towards the bar, hula skirt swishing as she brushed against an inflatable palm tree. 

“They do this every year,” she slurred into his ear, “it’s like, totally traditional.”

Jasper chuckled at her as she slurped her margarita messily through a straw, tipping his beer back and rubbing a hand, sticky from the bar, against his shorts.

Grabbing Bella around the waist, he steered her away from the bar. Catching sight of Jess in a corner, he gently tugged her towards her, depositing her on the seat next to Jess.

Bella tipped her head up to grin at him as she kicked off her shoes.

“I can’t feel my gums,” she laughed at him.

“I’m not surprised,” Jasper chucked her gently under the chin, “you must have drunk your weight in tequila.”

Jasper slipped away to the bathroom, rubbing a hand over his face as his other braced against the sink, staring himself down in the mirror. The smell of tequila was under his fingernails, he scrubbed them viciously, rubbing soap halfway up his forearm.

Mike came out of the cubicle behind him, bleary eyed.

“You alright, man?” he addressed Jasper as he pulled his fly up.

Jasper nodded tersely, splashing water on his clammy face as he watched his pupils dilate in the mirror.

“Here,” Mike staggered over to him, “hair of the dog.”

Mike pulled a hipflask out of his back pocket, silver and scuffed. Uncorking it he offered it to Jasper, who waved it away with a grimace.

“You sure?” Mike pushed it towards his face, “its Jack, thought every Texan loved him?”

* * *

 

**_14 years ago, Jasper is 10._ **

_He could hear him before the front door even opened. Burrowing further underneath the covers, he clutched Grandma’s sweater even closer. She’d worn it the day before she went to find Mommy and her smell still clung to it._

_He hears his bedroom door open and lets out an accidental squeak of terror. He feels the hand land on his covers and the tears leak out. He swipes them away as quickly as possible, praying no wet streaks remain as the covers are yanked off. Boys don’t cry._

_A hand wraps itself around the top of his arm, his father’s face looming closer to his in the darkness, the stench of whiskey strangling Jasper’s breathing._

_The first slap is expected and he barely flinches. The punch to the stomach looses a groan of pain, his legs inadvertently curling into the fetal position. The face above him curves with a satisfied smirk._

_Jasper closes his eyes and tries to ignore the blows, concentrates on being as quiet as possible._

_Rosabee can’t wake up. Rosabee can’t ever know._

* * *

Mike laid a hand on his shoulder, Jasper flinched away from the contact, the pain of his legs colliding with the sink behind him clearing the fog of his father’s face from his eyes.

“On second thoughts, maybe no more for you,” Mike laughed awkwardly, and motioned with his head towards the door, “maybe we should grab the girls and call a cab.”

Jasper nodded, the motion unnaturally jerky. He peeled his fingers from their grip on the sink and moved towards the bathroom door.

“I’ve got my truck, I’ll drive.”

Mike shot him an incredulous look; “dude, you look wasted. Bella’ll never let you drive, cop’s daughter remember, she knows the risks too well.”

“I thought her dad coached the Mariners?” Jasper paused in his pursuit of the door.

“Step-dad,” Mike rubbed a hand along the back of his neck, a muscle jumping in his cheek, “she didn’t tell you?”

Jasper shook his head, fingers wrapping around the door handle.

“He died when she was pretty young,” Mike didn’t meet Jasper’s gaze, eyes finding an irregularity in the tiling, “think for all intents her step-dad is her dad.”

Tugging the door open, Jasper pushed back into the throng of the bar, finding Jess and Bella still in their corner. Bella had fallen asleep, her head resting on Jess’ shoulder.

The taxi ride home was short and not enough to wake Bella, so Jasper carried her to her door. He fumbled with her keys as he pushed her front door open and headed towards her bedroom.

“Bigger than Rose,” he mumbled as he tried to juggle holding her and pulling the covers back on her bed.

She stirred at that, one hand moving to help pull the covers back, the other moving to his face.

“Who’s Rose?” she slurred, pulling her shoes off as he laid her in the bed and yanking the covers up to her chin so she could wriggle out of her clothes.

Jasper passed her the pot of makeup remover on her dresser, perching on the edge of her bed as he watched her work it into her skin.

“My sister,” he said softly, handing her tissue to wipe the cream away with and replacing the pot where he found it, “she’s 14.”

“I didn’t know you had a sister?” Bella asked, as she discarded the tissue and tried to pull on her pajamas under the covers, “does she live with your parents?”

“No,” Jasper picked at a loose thread on the bed, “she lives in Jersey.”

Bella didn’t push him any further, instead scrambling across the bed to sit in his lap, tangling her fingers in the short hair at the base of his skull and pressing her lips to his.

“Tell me about her,” she demanded, tilting his head back so she can look him in the eye.

“If you tell me about your dad,” he countered, adding at her look of confusion: “Mike told me he was a cop.”

A sad smile tugs one corner of her lips up.

“He was,” she bowed her head, “he was shot when I was two, I never knew him.”

Jasper tilted her chin up, and laid a hand over her heart.

“Yes you do,” he soothed, “you know him in here.”

“His name was Charlie,” she pushed her head into his shoulder, muffling her voice. She breathed in his smell, timing her breaths to his heart beat as she tried to calm herself.

“My mom died when I was 8,” this admission brought her head back up, “I sometimes forget what she sounded like, or smelled like. But I know she’ll always be in here,” he picked up one of her hands and rested it against his chest, mirroring his, still attached over her heart.

Bella turned, tugging him towards the head of the bed. She lifted her arms up like a child.

“Hold me?” her bottom lip quivered as she asked.

Jasper kicked off his boots, discarded his jeans, and gathered her to him.

**Author's Note:**

> Pre-read by the fabulous augustmonsoon and beta-d by PTB but cut and chopped and rejigged massively since so all mistakes are my own. 
> 
> SM owns all etc etc.


End file.
